Photo Flash: INKED BABY At Peter Jay Sharp Theater

World Premiere of INKED BABY, a new play by 2007 Susan Smith Blackburn nominee Christina Anderson in her Off-Broadway playwriting debut. INKED BABY began previews on Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 PM at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

Directed by Kate Whoriskey (Fabulation at Playwrights Horizons, the current hit Ruined), INKED BABY will have its official opening on Monday, March 23 at 7:00 PM and continue through Sunday, April 5.

The cast is lead by Tony and Obie award winner LaChanze (both Once on This Island and The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin at Playwrights Horizons, Dessa Rose), who is making her return to the stage for the first time since winning the 2006 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for The Color Purple. The cast also features Che Ayende (Oroonoko), Michael Genet (Off-Broadway's A Soldier's Play and The Colored Museum, TBS' "Tyler Perry's House of Payne"), Damon Gupton (Off-Broadway's The Story, True History and Real Adventures and Treason), 2-time Audelco Award nominee Angela Lewis (Hoodoo Love, Caligula), Nana Mensah (365 Days/365 Plays) and Obie Award winner Nikkole Salter (In the Continuum).

In INKED BABY, stuck for money and unable to conceive, Gloria (LaChanze) enlists the aid of her sister (Angela Lewis) to make the child that she and her husband (Damon Gupton) can't. As they uneasily await the baby's arrival, a mysterious contamination spreads outside. But consumed by their own struggles, is anyone paying attention? In this imaginative, other-worldly new drama, one family fights to find its place in a neglected neighborhood.Playwrights Horizons' 2008/2009 Season is generously supported by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Playwrights Horizons' production of INKED BABY has received generous support from The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, Time Warner Inc., The Carter Fund and the Tiger Baron Foundation. Playwrights Horizons is also supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from Carnegie Corporation of New York, Charina Endowment Fund and The Shubert Foundation.